A2 Reading worksheet 2 (standard)

How much sleep do you need?

1 What do you think a body clock is?

A a kind of small clock that you keep in your pocket
B a digital clock that tells you when to do exercise
C your need to eat, sleep, etc. at the best times for your body

2 Complete the sentences with the words from the box.

awake awful fall asleep relax

1 It’s Sunday. You should stop studying and a bit.

2 I go to bed early but sometimes I can’t .
3 Last night I slept for only four hours and now I feel .
4 It’s two o’clock in the morning. Why are you still ?

3 Read what three people say about sleep. Which person says …
1 they go to bed too late at night?
2 they go to bed too early?
3 they usually get up much too early?

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A2 Reading worksheet 2 (standard)
How much sleep do you need?

We asked three people of different ages how much sleep they need – and how much sleep they actually get.

Josh (28) Lilly (17) Noah (7)

I’m always tired. From Monday to
Friday I get up at seven o’clock.
I think I need about eight hours’
sleep, so I should go to bed at
eleven, but I don’t. I come home
from work quite late and only
really start to relax at about 10
pm. Then I read a book or watch
TV and very soon it’s midnight!
I go to bed but I don’t fall asleep
immediately. So I always feel
bad when the alarm clock rings
at seven.
Why do we have to start school
so early? It’s crazy! I  feel awful
when the alarm clock rings.
School timetables are not made
for the teenage body clock. At
the weekend I get up at ten or
eleven o’clock and then I feel
fine. On weekdays I have to
get up at half past six because
I have a long journey to school
– in winter it’s still dark! Why get
up in the middle of the night? It’s
not natural.
Why do children have to sleep
so much? My parents say I have
to go to bed at eight o’clock. In
the mornings, Mum and Dad are
always tired but I’m not tired at
all. I get up at seven o’clock, even
on Saturdays and Sundays. At
weekends everybody says that
it’s too early and that I should go
back to bed – but I can’t sleep
any more. I’m awake because
I went to bed too early!

4 Read the text again and look at the questions. Are the answers in the text? Tick the right box and
then write the answers if you can.
No, not in Yes, in Answer
the text the text
Example How does Josh relax in the evening? ü reads or watches TV
1 Does Josh usually fall asleep before or after midnight?
2 When does Lilly go to bed?
3 When does Lilly get up on Saturdays and Sundays?
4 Does Noah have an alarm clock?
5 Why does Noah think he wakes up early at weekends?

5 When do you feel most tired or most awake?

When are you hungry? With a partner, discuss
how you feel at these times:
8 am
10 am
1 pm
3 pm
6 pm
9 pm

At eight o’clock in the morning I still feel

tired. I have a small breakfast but I’m not
really hungry …

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A2 Reading worksheet 2 (standard)
Teacher’s notes
1 Warmer 5 Exercise 4
Ask a few students to say what time they got Now give students time to read in more detail.
up this morning. Do they feel that they had They should read through the questions first
had enough sleep? If not, can they say why? and then read the text more slowly, looking
for the answers to the questions. With a
2 Exercise 1 partner, they should write the answers in
Hand out the worksheet. Ask students to look note form, as in the example. Stress that this
at the question and the possible answers in is about the information they can really find,
Exercise 1. Make sure they all have time to not what they can guess.
read through everything and then ask for the
right answer. If body clock is still not clear, Answers
give some examples, e.g. My body clock tells 1 yes, goes to bed after midnight
me to go to bed early. I’m a morning person. 2 no, not in the text
3 yes, ten or eleven o’clock
Answer
4 no, not in the text
C
5 yes, because he went to bed too early
3 Exercise 2
Let students do the exercise in pairs and 6 Exercise 5
then check the answers with the whole class. Let students talk in pairs about their own
Explain that they will see the words in the box body clocks. When they have all spoken about
later on. the various times of day, ask a few pairs to
report to the class, comparing their own and
Answers their partners’ body clocks.
1 relax
2 fall asleep
3 awful
4 awake

4 Exercise 3
Ask students to skim the article with the
three short texts. Let them find the answers
themselves and then ask them to check with
a partner. Then confirm the answers with the
whole class.
Answers
1 Josh
2 Noah
3 Lilly

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